Thorns of Anguish
by JuliaBear7
Summary: Jessi is infected by a plant, and her body is taken over. Can Chekov save her?


"So what happened to the artificial gravity?" Jessi asked.

"Something with this planet's atmosphere disrupts it or something." He said. "I wasn't really paying attention when Mr. Scott was talking."

"I know." Jessi said. She remembered standing next to Pavel, then realized he was staring at her, and Mr. Scott just angrily walked away. God, why'd ye ask me if yer just gonna stare at the lass! It's madness, Keenser, I'm tellin' ya!

"Why do you have to beam down?" Pavel said, whining. Jessi couldn't resist his adorable slightly high-pitched voice combined with his accent.

"I'm going with McCoy because Chapel can't go." Jessi said. "Why do you even care? What could possibly happen? It's a primitive planet, so we can't get in the way of the villagers, so I can't get stabbed or anything."

"Accidents happen." Pavel said. "Plus, I have to care. You are mine. How could I not care?"

"Because, we have the best captain in the fleet." Jessi said. "The best. They wouldn't make him captain if he didn't know what he was doing."

"Were you there when Pike made him First Officer?" Pavel muttered. He looked down at the transporter controls, and Jessi kissed him, then walked away to talk to McCoy. Kirk walked up to him and asked Pavel what was wrong.

"What's up, Chekov? You don't look yourself." James Kirk said, happy, as always. "And you should be flying, getting action like that from a pretty girl."

"Please just tell me you'll make sure Jess- I mean, Doctor Hutchins, returns safely." Pavel asked. "I don't know what I would do if something happened to her."

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Mr. Chekov." Kirk said, smiling at him. Chekov half-smiled back at him. "Energize."

Jessi was somewhat enjoying herself. It was a very nice planet. It was just so natural, prehistoric. Possibly the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She, Bones, Kirk, Spock, Lieutenant Keller, and Ensign Casey, were all admiring the plants. Jessi looked through the trees and saw a small village, with children running about, playing together. Children of all ages. I wonder why they hadn't built their homes closer to the trees. It would have been so much easier. What Jessi would give to help them all. When a civilization was this brand new, there's usually not too many ways of healing. Even mere fevers, infections, could be deadly.

Jessi turned around and saw a bright pink blossom. "Wow. This would be paradise for Lieutenant Sulu." She said. The petals, to her surprise, closed, and went back to being a bud on the rest of the plant. She scanned it with her tricorder. "If I am correct, from my analysis, it opens to collect the light energy that it needs, then it closes for the rest of the process of photosynthesis."

"Fascinating." Spock said.

"Dammit, Spock, if you say one more thing is fascinating…" Doctor McCoy muttered.

"You did not finish your sentence, Doctor." Spock said. McCoy turned around.

"Go bother Jim for a change!" He grumbled. "Damned green-blooded computer…" Spock merely raised an eyebrow.

Jim laughed. "You both need to lighten up." He said. "Look where we are! One of the most beautiful planets in the galaxy!" Jim raised his arms, for emphasis, and waited for a response. Sadly for him, there was none. Jessi and Ensign Casey laughed, everyone else just stared at him. "Okay, fine." Kirk said. "Let's keep lookin' around. Last ship that came here said hey noticed strange patterns of aggression among some of the villagers. They would become angry for no apparent reason, then the anger would subside, and that would kinda go on and off, but it eventually lead to death." Kirk pointed to Jessi and Ensign Casey. "You two, go South, if you notice any signs of aggression among the villagers, or something that might cause aggression, report to me."

"Aye, Captain." The two said at the same time, then, they headed south.

Ensign Casey's bright red shirt was quite obvious among all the plants, as colorful as they were. I wonder to why they picked such obvious colors for Starfleet uniforms. I mean, it makes it more cheerful, I suppose, but at a time like this- All of a sudden, she heard Ensign Casey scream. "Casey!" Jessi yelled. "Casey, are you okay?" She rushed over to him, he was cradling his hand. "What happened?"

"That thornbush." Casey gritted his teeth. "I thought I avoided all the thorns, but I guess not."

Jessi ran the medical scanner over his hand, then over the thornbush. "That thornbush might be toxic. I'm detecting high levels of acid from inside of it. We need to get you back to the ship, make sure that doesn't get infected." Jessi said to him, smiling. She noticed that Casey was looking at something, then he pointed back to the bush. Pale blue vapors rose above it, in a cloud. "Something… In the back of my mind… Is telling me, that that is not good." Jessi said.

She pulled out her communicator as the vapors started to fill the perimeter. "Doctor Hutchins to Kirk, come in please!" She said.

"Kirk here, what's the problem?" Kirk said, remembering what Pavel had told him before they left. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Casey has injured his right hand. There is an interesting plant that I have found, I think you might want to see it, at least, when the air clears." Jessi said.

When the air clears? Kirk thought "I'll be right there." He said. He pointed to Spock. "You, come with me. Bones, Keller, you stay here."

When Kirk arrived at where Jessi and Ensign Casey was, he was somewhat startled, partially due to the fact that the air was blue. He stepped back. "Okay, the air is blue, why is the air blue?"

"I don't know." Jessi said. "Do not inhale it. I can't verify that it is safe."

"Have you inhaled it?" Kirk asked her.

"Probably." Jessi said. "But still, don't. I need to get this man to Sick bay to check out that cut, and make sure there are no infections."

"Have someone else beam down, too." Kirk said.

Jessi nodded and grabbed her communicator. "Hutchins to Enterprise, two to beam up, have medical crew stand by."

And as Jessi disappeared in a beam of light, for a moment, Kirk saw something different in her eyes. Something furious.

"Alright, looks like you're all good." Jessi said to Ensign Casey. "But come back tomorrow, just to be sure, alright?"

She sighed, and went back to her quarters, and Pavel, raced after her. "Jessi! Jessi!" He shouted, running down the hall, just before she could unlock the door to her quarters. "Jessi!" He hugged her really tightly. "I was so scared! But I knew nothing would happen to you!"

Jessi raised an eyebrow. "Did you?"

Pavel nodded.

"Well," Jessi said. "I'm gonna get some sleep, because I am soooo tired."

"Can I come?" Pavel said, grinning.

Jessi smiled, because she knew she couldn't say no. "Of course you can."

Jessi just layed there, eyes closed, and Pavel stroking her arm. "Jessi?" He said.

"Yes, Pavel." Jessi said, barely awake. She was a pretty light sleeper, but she fell asleep almost instantly.

"When do you think we should… You know… Take the next… Step?" He said, awkwardly.

Jessi, all of a sudden, was wide awake. "You mean sex?" She blurted out.

"Um, yes." Pavel said.

"Pav, how old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"And how old am I?"

"Twenty."

"Exactly. We're still pretty young." Jessi said, trying to ease back down.

"Can we when I'm nineteen?" Pavel said, obviously pretty eager.

"I'll make you a deal." Jessi said. "We can, on your nineteenth birthday, if we never have this conversation again. Deal?"

"Deal." Pavel said, going back to stroking her arm. When he was almost sure she was asleep, he started talking. "You know, you are so beautiful." He whispered. "I wish you could understand. Even though you're asleep, you're still the most amazing person ever. You are the one I want to spend my whole life with." He said. Her head was snuggled up to his chest, and his arm was cradling her, and he couldn't really see, but he swore he saw her smile after that.

The next morning, Ensign Casey was in Sick Bay, because of Jessi's orders. He sat, waiting until she came near. "Okay, Casey. I'm just gonna check one more time for any infections…" Casey nodded, and gave her his hand. To his surprise, the part that had been cut was healed, but was a pale shade of blue. Jesse's eyes widened. "Is this a joke?" She asked.

"N-no, Doctor. I swear it looked fine this morning." He said. Jessi looked at his eyes. His chocolate brown eyes had turned… blue.

"Casey, what is your eye color?" Jessi asked. "It's brown, right?"

This time, Casey turned bitter, and the blue spots on his hand disappeared. "Of course they are, you idiot!" He yelled, standing up.

"Mr. Casey, I did not clear you to leave!" Jessi said, as he stood, a good few inches taller than her.

Casey turned to her and raised his hand, as if he were to hit her, then Jessi grabbed his arm to halt it. Casey shoved her, and ran out of Sick Bay. Jessi called the bridge. "Sick Bay to Bridge, come in please!"

"This is Mr. Spock."

"I need a security alert, all decks." Jessi said. "And I think I found out what's causing the problem on the planet."

"What happened?" Spock asked.

"Casey. I was checking his hand, which had turned a pale shade of blue, and I noticed his eyes had changed color, from brown to blue. I asked him if his eyes were brown, and he yelled at me and tried to leave. When I tried to stop him, he attempted to hit me, them shoved me away, and ran out."

"Acknowledged." Spock said. "Spock out." He hit another button. "Security alert, all decks, security alert." He stood up. "Mr. Sulu, you have the con."

In Sick Bay, he found McCoy and Jessi talking. "I've never seen anything like that before. It scared me a little bit, honestly." Jessi said.

"Casey's never done anything like that." McCoy said. "He's a really nice kid."

"It's not him. It was that damned plant." Jessi said. "He is really sweet, but that's not Casey."

McCoy nodded. Spock walked over. "Doctor Hutchins, I assume you are alright?"

Jessi nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay." She said, smiling. "He's pretty strong though."

Spock pressed a button on the wall. "Spock to Security. Have you found Ensign Casey?"

"Yes, Mr. Spock. We got him."

"Bring him to Sick Bay to be restrained." Spock said.

"I'll get a sedative ready." McCoy sighed, shaking his head. "He's not going down without a fight."

At the end of her shift, Jessi went back to her quarters and sat on the edge of her bed. She rubbed her head. This job just gets more confusing, doesn't it? She thought. She went over to a mirror to check her hair, because by this time of the day, it was usually sticking out all over the place. She looked at her face carefully scanning her hair, eyes, nose, lips… _My lips…_ Jessi thought, as she touched her face. _My lips aren't usually blue…_ She looked up, and her eyes flashed a pale glowing blue. "Wha-?" She gasped. "My eyes! My ares are supposed to be _green_!"

Just then, Chekov walked into the room. "Jessi? Hey!" He said. "I'm glad to see you after that whole episode!" He said, cheerfully. "That had me nervous."

"Pavel," Jessi said. "You have to leave." She looked up at him. "I don't wanna hurt you. Please, leave."

"What?" Pavel said. "You wouldn't hurt me!" He laughed. "Come on." He said, touching her hair. "I'm your favorite Russian!" He joked.

"Step away from me." She said. "Please."

"What if I don't?" Pavel said, smiling.

"Pavel, I'm not kidding! Leave! Now!" Jessi yelled.

Instead of leaving, Pavel came closer, and kissed her. Jessi pushed him back.

"_Get away from me!_" Jessi shouted, crying now.

Pavel nearly jumped. Jessi's eyes glowed blue. "What the _hell_?!" He shouted. "Jessi, what-"

Jessi grabbed him by his neck and pinned him against a wall. "You _idiot_." She said, grinning. Pavel never thought he could hate one of her smiles do much. "I gave you a chance to leave. You stayed anyway." She lowered him, so his feet touched the ground. "You're a fool, nothing but a _foo_l."

"Jessi…" Pavel said, barely audible. "Stop… Please…"

Jessi let go of his neck, and he started panting. "You thought this girl loved you, didn't you?"

Pavel's eyes watched her, as she stepped around him, and she was staring back. "Jessi does love me. I know she does." Pavel said. "She makes me happy." He stood up straight. "And I want her _back_."

"She's right here." Jessi said. "Right in front of you."

"You're not Jessi." Pavel said. "Jessi would never hurt me. Jessi wouldn't hurt anyone!" He yelled. "She's a doctor!"

Jessi laughed. "She wouldn't hurt anyone? Ha! Hurting people? I do it for fun." She stepped closer to him. "She doesn't love you, Pavel." The girl said, smiling, eyes glowing like neon. "She's building you up." Jessi pulled on his shirt. "And when she gets you high enough," She shoved him into the wall. "She'll drop you."

Pavel's head hit the wall, and for a minute, the room was blurry. "Jessi, if you're anywhere in there-"

"I'm better now, Pavel." Jessi said. "I can only tell the truth!" She said. "And I'm tired of looking at your hideous face." She said. Pavel felt like he'd been shot with a phaser. Jessi walked over to him and slapped him in the face. "You're an idiot!" She said. "Thinking a girl like me could fall for someone like you! Ha!" Tears filled Pavel's eyes.

Jessi turned towards the mirror. While she had her back turned, Pavel reached toward a button on the wall, and smacked it. "Chekov to Sick Bay, I need help, now!"

Jessi turned around and faced him. "You know, I may not be Jessi Hutchins right now," Jessi said. "But I can still see everything that goes on in her head." She paced around him again. "She never loved you. Not for one minute." She looked down at Pavel, who had his back against the wall, and tears streaming down his face. Two security guards came in, and took Jessi's arms. Before she was dragged off, she kicked Pavel in the stomach, and he winced, and fell over. "She _never loved you_!" She screamed. "She will_ never_ love you!"

**To be continued.**


End file.
